Sagamore Bridge delays could spur Cape Cod rail service

At the first meeting of the Canal Area Regional Traffic Task Force, the chief executive officer of Cape Rail Inc. said he’s got plans to help get people over the canal.

Jen Ouellette

At the first meeting of the Canal Area Regional Traffic Task Force, the chief executive officer of Cape Rail Inc. said he’s got plans to help get people over the canal.

“Not only is there an additional lane available, there’s an additional bridge that lays dormant most of the year,” said John Kennedy in response to requests to have an extra lane opened on Fridays during Phase II of construction next spring.

Kennedy didn’t disagree with many of the other speakers at the meeting who said long-term solutions to increased growth on Cape Cod need to be found to address the bridges, which are quickly becoming outdated.

“We’ve got to look at other alternatives, but right now we actually have another option to use. We’ve looked at a quick implementation for March 2010,” Kennedy said, adding his railroad can “absolutely” get it done.

Kennedy said his railroad would transport passengers from Sandwich to Middleboro with the possibility of one or two trains connecting from Hyannis.

The service would not be routed though the existing Sandwich train station that serves the dinner train, but instead would use parking lots at either the Sandwich Marina or the Canal Electric Plant as possible access points.

More than a dozen people were at the table for the first task force meeting Monday, with a room full of others openly participating in the conversation.

The plan is to narrow the participants to include key players who will serve on the executive committee of the task force and meet twice a month. The whole group would meet on a less frequent basis.

The crowd included Cape Cod Commission representatives, the Sandwich town manager, the Bourne town administrator, representatives from both the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and the Canal Region Chamber of Commerce, state officials, county officials and members of the Cape’s legislative delegation.

Larry Davis, Assistant Canal Manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, told members of the task force the life of the bridges can extend out to 50-plus years with regular maintenance and upkeep.

However, he added as the bridges age, the upkeep and maintenance required will become more frequent to ensure the stability of the bridges.

Discussion centered on what to do in March to alleviate traffic congestion that mimics what happened this fall.

“Main Street Buzzards Bay was backed up. We’re not just talking about a small delay, but significant backups. I think we have to look at all those roads and the impact, not just to the roads off the Sagamore Bridge,” said Marie Oliva, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce.

Tom Cahir, executive director of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority and chairman of the task force, said addressing the perception of the bridge traffic is also important as the shoulder season of 2010 tourism begins.

Cahir said he’s had thousands of communications with folks, including one person who said earlier this fall he was moving to Maine rather than deal with traffic on Cape Cod.

The task force identified four tasks that need to be addressed: evaluating existing conditions, developing short-term improvements to be implemented before March 2010, evaluating future conditions and developing long-term improvements to be implemented within five to 10 years.

Cahir is optimistic about the outcome of the task force’s work.

“Sometimes through crisis and chaotic situations, some good comes out of it. We’ve had some good conversations today,” Cahir said.